Stars center matches Gretzky feat as Dallas pushes Avalanche to brink

Wyatt Johnston celebrated his 21st birthday a day early by doing something that only Wayne Gretzky had done before on Monday night.

Johnston scored twice — a power-play goal and a shorthanded goal — to lead the Dallas Stars to a 5-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche in Game 4 of the Western Conference second-round series. The victory at Ball Arena in Denver put the Stars up 3-1 in the series.

Johnston joins Gretzky as the only player 20 or younger with a power-play goal and a shorthanded goal in the same Stanley Cup Playoff game.

Meanwhile, the Avalanche began getting bad news before the game even began. They learned shortly before the contest that they would be without two key players, one for a long time.

Right wing Valeri Nichushkin, who had nine goals in Colorado's eight playoff games, re-entered the NHL/NHLPA Players Assistance Program at Stage 3. That means he will be suspended without pay for at least six months and will be eligible to apply for reinstatement. He spent time in the program during the regular season.

Defenseman Devon Toews missed the game because of an illness. Toews was replaced in the lineup by Caleb Jones.

The team did get back first-line left wing Jonathan Drouin, who missed the first eight games of the playoffs with a lower-body injury he sustained in the final regular-season game. 

It's understandable that the Avalanche were still stunned by the opening faceoff and it showed. They escaped the first period, in which they were outshot 14-2, down only 1-0.

That goal came from Johnston, who got the shorthanded score with 4:23 left in the opening period. 

After originally stealing the puck in the Avalanche zone from their star defenseman Cale Makar, Johnston banged in his own rebound.